Legislative Bills Will Address Woman's Killing Of Her Fetus

SUFFOLK — The issue arose this year, when a Suffolk mother was charged with shooting herself in the stomach.

The dismissed case of a 23-year-old Suffolk woman who killed her fetus has caught the attention of state legislators.

Prosecutors tried twice to prosecute Tammy Skinner, a mother of two. She was charged with shooting herself in the stomach to kill her unborn child Feb. 23, the day it was to be born. But state laws about killing fetuses don't apply to expectant mothers. Some members of the Virginia General Assembly expect to address that in the coming legislative session.

"It's the role of government to keep people from murdering children, whether they're an hour old or an hour from being born," said state Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, R-Chesapeake. "I don't think there is anybody who followed this tragedy who wants to see this type of thing go on."

Quayle, whose district covers part of Suffolk, said several state legislators planned to submit legislation to amend laws or create some to make it a crime for a mother to kill her fetus.

One of them is state Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, who said he planned to finish writing a bill on the topic by the end of the month.

A 2004 law reads, "Any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation kills the fetus of another is guilty of a Class 2 felony." Punishment is 20 years to life in prison.

Jones' bill would take out "of another," so it would apply to expectant mothers.

Suffolk residents have talked to him about the issue, he said.

"People are concerned about it because it is the taking of a life," Jones said. "I feel very strongly about the matter. If this situation were to arise again, this law would apply."

The General Assembly has "flirted" will bills like this before, Quayle said. The hang-up is the abortion debate, he said.

"They kind of break down within that debate about pro-life or pro-choice," he said. "Both sides are a little paranoid and believe a bill like this is being introduced from the abortion side, not purely from a public safety basis."

In the early hours of Feb. 23, when Skinner was having contractions, she called 911 to say a man whom she couldn't identify shot her in the stomach.

But evidence led investigators to conclude that the mother of two shot herself, and she later admitted it.

Police charged her with illegally inducing an abortion.

A General District Court judge dismissed the case, saying state law was too ambiguous.

Prosecutors charged her again, this time in Suffolk Circuit Court, and Skinner's trial was set for Nov. 2.